STEVE Cotterill insists Bristol City's players have good reason to approach tough games against promotion-chasing Rotherham United and Preston in a confident frame of mind.

City make their first trip to the New York Stadium on Saturday for a showdown with fourth-placed Rotherham.

Arguably the form side in League One over the past month, the Millers reaffirmed their play-off credentials when beating second-placed Brentford 3-0 in midweek.

There will be no let-up for the Robins, who must then face fifth-placed Preston at Ashton Gate the following weekend.

But manager Cotterill believes City will approach both games in a positive attitude following Tuesday's 5-0 demolition of Port Vale.

City's biggest win since Gillingham were beaten 6-0 in a League One fixture at Ashton Gate way back in March 2006 will have done wonders for confidence.

Beaten only once in ten outings, the Robins have won four and drawn two of their last six, their best run of form since going eight games unbeaten under then-manager Derek McInnes to stave off the threat of relegation in the Championship at the end of the 2011-12 campaign.

"I've said before that there are two spirals in football, one up, one down and nothing in between. Hopefully, we are now on an upward spiral," said Cotterill.

"We're unbeaten in six games and we're going into the next two games against top sides in good form.

"We've had a good month and we've taken 31 points from 20 games since I arrived, which is more than twice as many than we had in 19 games before that. It certainly gives you confidence as a manager and the players are probably feeling more confident as well."

Yet Cotterill is mindful that his side probably require a further four points to guarantee their League One status and he is refusing to become carried away by City's recent upturn in fortunes.

He said: "We have to keep our feet on the floor. No one is getting carried away by this.

"It was a great win and performance against Port Vale, but that is over now and we need to knuckle down and focus on the next game.

"That process started as soon as the boys were back in the dressing room the other night. We have a tough game to prepare for on Saturday and that is all we should be thinking about."

Cotterill will face a selection dilemma at the weekend, given that central defender Adam El-Abd is available after serving a three-match suspension for his sending off at Peterborough earlier this month and goalkeeper Simon Moore and midfielders Joe Bryan and Bobby Reid are recovering from injury.

El-Abd featured in every game between signing from Brighton in January and being shown a red card on March 11, but Karleigh Osborne and Nyron Nosworthy have done well in his absence, helping City keep two clean sheets in three outings.

Ruled out for nearly a month with a groin problem, Moore is back in training and could soon be ready to challenge Frank Fielding, while Bryan is expected to have recovered from a knee injury in time for Saturday's trip to Rotherham.

Cotterill has some tough choices to make as he decides whether or not to change a winning team.